The son of neptune
by The ULTIMATE catchphrase
Summary: "Let's just hope you've got thick skin, kid."
1. Chapter 1

He sat up with a jolt, not remembering anything he had been dreaming.

He knew it was something important, but as soon as he came close, the memory slipped away like slime. He soon realized he was forgetting something else as well, something far more important.

_Where am I? Wait, scratch that. _Who _am I?_

He didn't know, and that scared him.

Hoping that it would give him some clue, he surveyed his surroundings, waiting for anything that would give him an idea. He was on an old, rickety bench (Quite an uncomfortable one, considering his very sore back), overlooking a familiar looking pier.

_Alright, _he thought, _Maybe I'm some homeless kid._

That seemed pretty likely. Looking down at his clothes, he was wearing a pair of very battered looking pajamas. The pants, he realized with a blush, were dark blue and covered with…yellow rubber duckies. He mentally face palmed himself.

_Really? Ducks? _

He was in the process of wondering what 16 year-old (At least…assumed he was that old) in his right mind would wear duck pajamas in public, when a gruff voice shouted, "Oi! You! Duck Boy!"

'Duck Boy' snapped to attention, a bit embarrassed to be addressed that way. A scruffy man was limping towards him, sporting a crooked yellow smile and a rag-tag collection of cloth. He seemed more amused than angry, to 'Duck Boy's' obvious relief.

"I don't think I've ever seen you around before. You new?" The man asked. His breath was particularly unpleasant.

"I, uh, don't know. I just woke up here," he replied truthfully. The man nodded understandingly.

"Ah, I see," He looked Duck Boy up and down. "You seem a bit young to be getting into that…"

"What are you….oh," Duck Boy winced. "Uh, I don't think…."

"No, it's alright. No need to explain yourself to an old hobo like me. I've had my share," He laughed, like _ah, memories! _"So, unless you want to be forever referred to as Duck Boy, could you be so kind as to tell me your name?"

"Uh…" he searched his brain feverishly, but came up with nothing. So he made something up. "Peter…Johnson."

For some reason, that name rang a bell. He knew it wasn't his actual name, no, that much he was sure of. The pain in his head intensified.

The man looked thoughtful. "Peter Johnson, eh? Cool name," He looked as if he didn't quite believe that.

"Well, If you ever need anything, my name is Gordo," He winked, before limping away.

_Well, that was strange, _he thought, getting up and walking the opposite way, towards the street.

.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

_Okay, _Peter decided as he walked though the city, _I seriously need some new clothes._

All the while, people were staring and laughing at him, and it was getting pretty annoying. He had already gathered that he was in San Francisco, which came with a strange sense of foreboding that he didn't understand. Every molecule of his body him that he wasn't supposed to be here, but he trudged along anyway.

After a while, he came across a thrift store that, like everything here, seemed to be very familiar. Hoping to god he had some money, he shoved his hands in his pockets. His right hand pulled out a bunch of useless things. A battered ballpoint pen, a couple of large gold coins (he was sure those wouldn't fit in any of the vending machines. Shame.), a crumpled piece of paper, and some fuzz. He shoved it all back in his pocket.

His left pocket had been more promising. There was a wallet! _A wallet!_ He didn't know why he would go to bed with his wallet in his pocket, but he didn't question it.* He opened it greedily, only finding about 15 dollars a couple pennies. That was it. No drivers license, no credit cards, not even an old receipt. What he did find, was a picture. He slipped it out of his wallet, staring at it. It was a picture of what he assumed to be himself, and some girl. The girl was pretty, with curly blonde hair and gray eyes, but she looked bettered and bruised. Nonetheless, the pair was smiling goofily at the camera, as if they had just won the lottery. He had his arm around the girl, he realized with a jolt.

His headache returned again, and he had to look away. He _knew _that girl, and this place was somehow tied to her.

.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

He was glad to be out of his pajamas. Now he was wearing plain old jeans, and a green t-shirt. Granted, they were a bit battered, but he chose to ignore that. He now felt less like a dork. He still had a good amount of money left, so he stopped inside a convenient store and bought a cheap backpack and some snacks. He had no idea where he was going, but he thought it best to be prepared. He found a park bench near the store, and sat down next to a sharp looking girl. She had straight, shoulder-length auburn hair, and stormy grey eyes that reminded him a lot of the girl from the picture. As he took out the picture, he realized that the girl next to him looked a lot like the girl from the photo. He decided to say hello.

"Hey," he said, feeling stupid.

She looked up from her…cell phone? It didn't exactly look like one.

"Hi," she said curtly, before looking returning to her cell phone.

_Okay, _he thought, _rude._

He returned to staring at the picture in his hand. Squinting, he realized that he and girl both sported identical streaks of gray hair. He blinked. How could that be? Tentatively, he reached up into his hair. His fingers closed around an odd feeling strand, and he pulled it in front of his eyes.

Sure enough, it was gray. He wondered why he would've dyed his hair gray, and why the girl would've too.

Suddenly, the girl beside him stiffened.

On impulse, Peter did as well.

The girl slipped her cell phone out of her pocket, and held it out in front of her. Peter's hand flew to his pocket as well, but he didn't know why.

Suddenly, there was a sharp growl, a something with glowing red eyes burst out of the trees.

**Okay, First in my major, extreme, total rewrite of this story (the real reason I haven't updated). **

**I apologize for the shortness, but I felt the need to end it there. The next rewrites willl be better.**

**Yes, I did write out Jay and Delaine. They were to flat. **

**Virtual cookie to whoever can guess who and what the girl is, as well as what Gordo is. **

***Can you guess why Percy would go to sleep with his wallet in his pocket?**


	2. Chapter 2

The thing flew at them, all pulsing muscle and gnashing teeth and –Peter couldn't help but notice- disgusting drool, combined together in a whirling mass of dark fur. It looked like a rabid Rottweiler on steroids. Peter backed up quick, pulling a pen out of his scruffy jeans, too confused to wonder why. He knew he should be completely scared out of his mind, but he _wasn't_. In fact, he was filled with a completely out of context feeling. _Longing. _It pulled at his gut, familiar and strange all at once.

The girl went into battle-mode almost immediately. Suddenly, the cell phone in her hand was no longer a cell phone, instead a gleaming golden sword, long and thin and deadly. She flew at the demon-dog-from-hell (He didn't know how close he was) with a battle cry as menacing as the dog's viscous growl, and all Peter could do was watch like some star-struck idiot. He suddenly felt a strong surge of déjà vu, along with an overwhelming urge to uncap his pen. He squashed it down. _What am I gonna do? Give it a crudely drawn mustache? _

"_Look out!"_ The girl's voice called urgently. He looked up to see the dog flying at him, the girl latched comically to its tail, thrashing like a fish out of water. He backed up quick and stumbled over onto the bench. The girl gave a startled cry as the claws came in contact with his unprotected chest. He felt the fabric of his green t-shirt rip, but nothing else. No stabbing pain, no biting claws, no warm blood seeping from the wound. Nothing.

He didn't have time to marvel at the miracle. The demon dog seemed irritated by the fact that his prey was still alive and well, and lunged again, his teeth snapping. Peter practically flung himself to the concrete, wincing at the hard _snap _his head made as it hit the asphalt. His vision went sputtered out for a split second, and stars dancing across his line of sight. The world swirled around him, and the rest of the world sounded tinny and far away.

_Percy Jackson._

The name echoed in his ears. Was _that _his name?

_Use the pen._

The stars cleared from his sight and he pulled himself up, the world giving one last psychedelic whirl. A painful lump throbbed on the side of his head. He stared at the pen gripped in his hand and, swallowing his feelings of utter idiocy, uncapped it.

And from the pen, burst a gleaming bronze sword.

_Okay, I _so_ did _not _see that coming._

It felt so intensely right in his hands, the grip molded perfectly for his fingers. He was Percy Jackson, this was his sword, and he was made to use it. He smiled unconsciously, and, his newly acquired lethal weapon in hand, flew at the monster. .

The auburn-haired girl, who was bleeding form multiple wound at this point, did a double take as he sailed by, utterly baffled. In a matter of seconds, all that was left of the monster was a pile of glittery dust, and a dark-haired boy in ripped up clothing. The girl closed her gaping mouth and touched a mark on her sword. It shrunk back into a cell phone. She ran to the boy, who was still staring at the pile of dust in a state of shock. She grabbed his shoulder and roughly spun him to face her.

"How did you—and where did you—what-," she took a breath to steady herself, cutting herself short, before looking his straight in the eye. "Who are you, why are you here and where did you get that?" she demanded, her grip painfully tight.

Percy blinked. He was vaguely—okay, maybe a little more then vaguely…just don't tell her that!—in intimidated by this girl. There was something about her tall stature, hard expression and cold grey eyes than made him uneasy. Oh and the freaky cell phone/ kick-ass sword.

"Uh…Percy Jackson…I think, I have no idea, and…a pen?" she saw the look on her face. He rubbed his neck nervously. "I'm just as confused by all this as you are…" her expression didn't change. There was an awkward patch of silence. Suddenly, a howl spilt the air. The girl muttered a curse in a language he didn't understand.

"The rest of the pack is coming….We better scram," Her hand clamped around his arm in an iron grip. "You're coming with me," she ground out, her expression dangerous and hard to read. She then began running, dragging Percy behind. When they reached the Square, she dialed a number on her cell phone/sword and brought it to her ear.

"Hello? Bobby? Yeah, it's Reyna. I…" she glanced at Percy warily, before continuing, "I acquiritur novus militiae. Quid? Immo unum. Venite ad quadratum. Vos currum quaesita, corrige? Bonum. Momentairly videtis. Oh, quod planto certus nos Lupa Gwen narrat eum. (1)" She hung up. She sat down on a nearby bench, her hands twtiching and jittering in her lap.

Percy turned to the girl, his arms folded. "Now, I've got some questions for _you."_

*.*.*.*.*.*

"Who are you?"

_Cue annoyed sigh. _ "Reyna Greene. But that's Praetor Greene to you, runt."

"Where are you taking me?"

"That's classified."

"Classified? Why the hell is it classified?"

"It's on a need to know basis, and you _rookie,"_ She said it like he was gum stuck to the bottom of her sneakers. "don't need to know."

"I'm pretty sure I need to know."

_Silence._

"So what was that thing anyway?" She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms like, _I can't believe I'm associating with this person._

"That was a Hellhound, from the Underworld. Got any more stupid questions, runt?"

…

"What's the Underworld?"

"_Mea numina densa es!_ (2)" she shouted throwing her arms up. "What do you _think _it is! It's the _Underworld!_ Now shut up and sit down before I run you through with my sword." She turned around, looking at him over her shoulder. "You should learn to hold your tongue. Lupa would tear you limb from limb for such insolence."

"Sounds like a nice guy…" Percy muttered, in spite of himself. Luckily, Reyna just rolled her eyes and kept walking.

"Just close your mouth, okay? I'm doing you a favor. You're going to have to grow up if you're going to survive."

Percy opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off as a huge shadow loomed over the pair. They both looked, up and Percy almost had a heart attack.

It was a chariot, for a second, it looked familiar, painted sea green with a blue wave design, trimmed with silver(3), but when he blinked, it was a simple gold chariot with the letters SPQR printed in bold purple letters on the side. It was pulled by a pair of Palominos. _Winged _Palominos.

Oddly enough, he wasn't as freaked out as he thought he would be. It was almost as if he saw crazy winged horses everyday.

_Hey, maybe I do. Wouldn't surprise me._

"I-is that-?"

"Hey, Rey," A dark hair boy grinned, gripping the reins in his hands. "You rang?"

"Bobby, I told you not to call me that." Reyna muttered impatiently, her arms folded.

"Why? Oh, that's right, because—"

"_Bobby! _That's enough. We've got a whole pack of Hellhounds on our tail. We don't have time for this."

Bobby looked unfazed. "Alright, fine." He peered down at Percy, one thick eyebrow arched. "This the new meat?" he broke into a smile, and Percy noticed a small gap between his two front teeth. "Well, he's conscious and unscathed. That's a good sign. Lupa might not eat this one!"

"Bobby, just park the damn chariot."

Percy blinked, before looking at Reyna as if she'd just grown a second head. "_Eat me?_ That's it; I want to go home now."

Reyna ignored him, sauntering over to the chariot. Percy had no choice but to follow.

As he stepped onto the chariot, one of the winged horses glanced at him, and Percy could have sworn the horse smiled.

_**Welcome, My Lord. It is an honor.**_

Percy nearly jumped out of the chariot. The horse laughed (as much as a horse could laugh) and took off as Bobby pulled the reins, its golden wings spreading. Percy sat back, clutching his heart. A feeling of overwhelming longing washed over his heart, for the second time today. What the hell was happening to him?

Reyna seemed to be wondering the same thing. She fixed him with a worried look. Her hard expression softened a fraction. For a moment, Percy thought she was going to comfort him. Instead, she said:

"If you're going to puke, at _least _do it over the side. I just painted this chariot." He gulped, rubbing the back of his neck like he did when he was nervous.

"One more stupid question," He paused. "D-do horses normally…uh…talk …to you, by any chance?"

That sounded insane, even to him.

Reyna eyed him warily. "No, they do not. Not even our world is that weird." She eyed him, and seemed to be toying with the idea of calling the straight-jacket patrol. "Perhaps you've been in the sun a tad too long. How long have you been out there?"

"Uh…good question…"

"Pfft, he's probably just crazy," Bobby laughed, grinning that crazy gap-toothed grin. "Yup, you'll fit right in. Let's just hope you've got thick skin, kid. Be a shame if Lupa-"

"Bobby, for the last time _shut up._" She smacked his arm, and the chariot swerved violently. Percy suspected Bobby had done so on purpose.

"I wouldn't smack your chauffeur." He paused. "Unless, of course, you want to crash." The chariot swerved violently again, before dipping and veering right back up again.

"Bobby, stop it! So help me gods, if you do not stop being such and imbecile I will stick you in a meat-flavored sack and throw you to Lupa's wolves!" Bobby just snickered and shoved some ear buds in his ears ("_Bobby David Robbins! You get those earphones out this minute! You're driving a _chariot!") Something about her last comment struck him as familiar. _How many meat-flavored sacks have I encountered? Man, my life must be pretty damn screwed up._

_**My Lord! Danger! Up ahead. **_

_W-what?_

Percy's head snapped up. A great, writhing mass of murky grey clouds blocked their path far ahead. Lightning forked across, illuminating silhouettes of ghostly horses and humans alike.

"Re—Praetor Greene…" He tugged weakly on the sleeve of her red sweater, his eyes trained ahead. The air was stiff and static-y, smelling of ozone. He might not know much, but he knew that wasn't a good sign.

_**When has it ever been a good sign, My Lord?**_ Percy shook the horse's voice out of his head.

Reyna looked up from her cell phone-ish device. "Wha—Oh! My gods!" She dropped her device with a dull thud.

"Bobby, stop the chariot." He voice was deadly calm. Bobby, still jamming out on his iPod, didn't seem to hear. "Bobby." She repeated, a little louder, a hysterical edge sharpening her tone. Still nothing. "_Bobby! Stop the gods damn chariot RIGHT NOW or we all DIE!"_

He jumped, yanking the ear buds out of his ears.

"What do you—_holy hell?"_ He yanked the reins back, and the horses reared back, neighing in fear and panic.

"_Down!"_ Reyna screamed. Her sword was in her hands now, gleaming in the wicked light of the storm. Percy took his own out of his pocket, holding it with shaking hands.

Bobby swerved to avoid a billowing, stormy figure, before pulling he chariot sharply downward, causing Percy's stomach to drop painfully. More spirits zipped by the chariot, crackling with raw electrical energy. He raised his sword, trying to stab the thing, but his blade passed cleanly through it, as if it were made of water. _Like a mortal._

"_Venti!_" Reyna hissed. "You can't kill them unless—"

There was a great crack and a burning smell, cutting off whatever she was going to say. Percy peered over the side of the chariot. Where the wheel had been a moment ago, was now a smoking clump of blackened wood.

"The wheel's out!" Percy hollered over the screaming wind. The chariot tipped violently, and Percy clung to the side to keep from spilling over.

_Boom! _The chariot shuddered and began to lose altitude on its own.

"Another!" he screamed plastering himself to the side of the chariot. Reyna was clinging to the other side, screaming a strange language into the cell.

"_We're going down, Rey!" _ Bobby screamed, straining at the rains. Rain poured and thunder boomed. They spiraled towards the unforgiving ground, a flurry of feathers, burning wood, and vengeful storm spirits.

**Todaaaaaaa! Holy crap that was FIVE AND A HALF PAGES! YAAAAAAAAAY!**

**(1) Roughly translated to: I've got the new solider. What? Yeah, that one. Come to the square. You have the chariot, right? Good. See you soon. Oh, and make sure Gwen tells Lupa we've got him.**

**(2) My gods, you're dense!**

**(3) Not sure what the chariot looked like in SoM. Didn't specify. So I made it up**

**R&R! **

**3 TUC**


	3. Chapter 3

The ground rushed towards them at a dizzying pace.

_This is it! We're gonna die! We're all gonna die!_

_**You know, you're quite the optimist, my Lord.**_

Bobby strained at the reins, yanking them skyward. The pegasi strained to pull up, but as they went up, the rest of the chariot dangled limply behind them. Reyna and Percy lost their grip and slid to the back of the chariot, Reyna nearly crushing Percy.

"_Bobby! Don't let go!"_ Reyna screamed, as the chariot gave another jerk. Reyna instinctively grabbed onto Percy. Lighting zapped all around them, scorching the wood.

"I'm trying—_Gah! NO!"_ he hands slipped from the reins. He groped for them for a few split seconds, before falling back and sliding down, landing on Reyna with a startled "_Oof!"_ from both.. The Pegasi slipped from the chariot, quickening its decent.

"No!" Reyna shouted. The Venti's laughs were like the buzzing of a million angry bees.

"Fair well, demigods! Have fun in Hades!" one laughed. And with that, they swirled away in a writhing cloud.

_**My Lord! We've come to save you! Jump out!**_

"_What?"_ He screamed over the howling winds. "_That's absurd!"_

"_What's absurd?" _Reyna yelled. Percy ignored her. He struggled out from under her and peered over the side. Two Pegasi struggled to keep up with them, their golden wings flapping furiously, sending puffs of gleaming feathers to the wind.

_**There is not much time! Now JUMP OFF! I will not let you or your friends fall, my Lord, and neither will Sunny!**_

Percy gulped. He was right. They would be a grease spot in a matter of seconds. The Pegasi swooped downwards, circling under them.

"Reyna, Bobby! Jump!"

"_What?"_

"Just do it!" and with that, Percy hurled himself over the side, Reyna and Bobby screaming after him.

He landed on the Pegasus with a hard thud that knocked the breath out of him.

"Ow…" he muttered his voice cracking and breathless.

_**Sup, boss! It's an honor to serve you! The name's Sunny, and that's Glace!**_

"Hey…" he ground out, his voice still an octave higher than he would've liked. He struggled to sit up without tipping over, and steadied himself on Sunny's back. He glanced around and spotted Bobby and Reyna, sitting safely on Glace's back a little below Percy and Sunny, looking very disgruntled.

Sunny veered sharply to the left as the remains of the chariot hurtled past them, and crashed harshly on the grass below, sending chunks of blackened wood and metal into the air in a mushroom cloud of smoke.

They drifted slowly to the ground a little way from the crash. Reyna jumped off the moment Glace's hooves brushed the grass.

"_Bobby, you idiot!_ You just _had _to jinx us!" She shouted in his face. The rain had miraculously stopped, but all three teenagers were soaked to the core and bleeding from multiple wounds (well, besides Percy. He still found that odd. The water hadn't even touched him!). With that angry look contorting her face, her hair hanging limp and tangled, Reyna was almost as scary as the Hellhound.

"Jinx you? What are talking about?" He jumped off Glace, his eyebrows contracted in confusion and irritation.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the, '_Unless you wanna crash, that is!'" _ She mocked him in an exaggerated voice that sounded frighteningly close to Bobby's own southern drawl.

"Oh, so you're blaming this on me? How I was I supposed to know?" He demanded, crossing his arms.

"Ugh!" she stomped her foot in frustration and began walking pointedly away from them, towards the twisted forest a little ways down the clearing. "This way, idiots. We're not far form the Great Rock. Just walk fast and keep your stupid mouths shut."

"Jesus," Bobby muttered, falling into step beside Percy as they delved into the woods. The horses trotted close behind. "That girl has more mood swings than a rollercoaster." He shook his head. "Mmm, mmm, mmm. Well, we're lucky that those Venti were too stupid to check if we were dead. Cocky little bastards, aren't they?" Percy agreed, and they both snickered.

"Bobby!" Reyna reprimanded, turning her head and glaring at him reproachfully.

"I know, I know," he put on a fairly pompous accent, index finger pointed to the sky. "'You shall not use strong profanity inside or outside the camp. Offense punishable by death.'" He dropped the act, rolling his eyes. "Puh-_lease_, Reyna. Like she'd kill the Praetor of the Second legion over _that._ Besides, there's no way she could know unless someone squeals. I've gotten away with worse before." he winked.

Reyna muttered something under her breath. Percy caught, "idiots" and "Mercury's lot" and a few choice words she would certainly get put to death for.

*.*.*.*.*.*

They walked for longer than Percy could keep track of. Apparently, "not too far" meant "some where within 20 miles". Or at least, that's how he felt. By the time they reached the clearing, Percy was drenched in sweat and ready to drop dead. Reyna and Bobby still looked like they could grab a sword and kick some serious ass without even breaking a sweat.

Percy glanced around warily. The clearing was a near perfect circle, wringed by towering trees on all side, with a path cutting through the dense foliage. It was empty, save for one massive boulder, its surface smooth and gleaming in the sunlight.

"Wow…that's a…big rock," Percy said stupidly. Reyna rolled her eyes.

"That's why it's called _The Great Rock."_

"Like Zeus's Fist," He muttered without thinking. It had just come to him.

"What?"

"Er…nothing."

"Okay…well, I'm afraid this is where we split." She Walked over to Sunny and slung herself on his back. Bobby did the same with Glace.

"What? You can't just leave me here!" He cried.

"Sorry, runt, but I've got to. Standard protocol. Just keep walking. You'll find it eventually. It's not that easy to miss." And with that, she dug her heels into Sunny's sides, and Bobby smacked Glace's rump (earning a disgruntled whinny of protest). They flew into the air, circling over the clearing.

_**Good Luck, My Lord. **_

_**Try not to die, boss!**_

"Wait! Come back! _Where am I supposed to go?"_ he shouted, waving his arms in the air. But they just kept flying. Percy stared at the horizon, watching them shrink smaller and smaller. He sighed, feeling betrayed.

"Guess I'm on my own," he muttered. Clutching the picture of him and the girl in his hands, he started down the path, a little part of him already starting to harden.

**What's this? A BACK TO BACK UPDATE? My god, the world must really be ending! **

**Well, school's tomorrow, so I'll throw you a chapter. *throws chapter into crowd of rabid readers* There you go! Sorry it's only three pages. I can't stay up till two in the morning anymore, so expect the chapters to be about this long. Updates soon! **

**With love.**

**TUC**


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